Monday, May 21, 2012

Back To The Table with My Country Kitchen

Food has long been an important element of everyday life. Even
though information and beliefs about how it should be grown, prepared and
served varies from culture to culture, household to household, food is often at
the heart of most communal gatherings. Breaking bread together has long been a key
ingredient in all major life passages: birth, birthdays, graduations, weddings,
holidays, anniversaries, etc.

Author Betty Reed Lynch wants to remind us of the communal
qualities of food in her book Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen. It was written for anyone who wants a easy way to step back into the
kitchen in order to share meals with those you love.

In today’s fast-paced, busy world, that’s not a bad idea. People
gather together less frequently. Add to that the fact that events that used to
last days now take place within the space of only a few hours and it’s easy to
see how food, once a powerful bond among community members (including families)
had changed.

Lynch wants people to create meal-related memories that last more
than one life time. “When you are old and your children are grown you will not
regret the time spent together around the dinner table,” she wrote in the
book’s introduction.

Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen was written to help you prepare cost-
and time-effective meals that make shared family meals simple.

This 147-page book keeps its promise. The recipes, food
wisdom, and interplay between author and editor about various cooking terms and
tips, offer ways for you to re-discover the joy of food. Fun and interesting recipes like maple hot
chocolate, strawberry bread, and oven porcupines (you’ll have to read the book
to find out what those are!) are perfect family foods.

Food charts – how to use various apple varieties, vegetable
steaming charts, etc. – and tips like this: Save
butter wrappers in the freezer to use for greasing pans when baking all add
up to smart and easy for the modern family.

The book also includes comments by others about taking time to
have family meals. According to Andrea Yates, “It's almost a lost art these
days and is so important in our lives. I just took it for granted growing up
but really realize how special my family and their values and traditions were
and how lucky I am to have them. So for everyone reading this...Make time for
yourself, your family and friends...have them over for a sit down dinner, you'd
be amazed at how it heals the soul (and warms the tummy too).”

Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen is available in paperback and as an e-book at Lulu.com.